


forever with you

by laurenkmyers



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Coda, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Happy, M/M, Smut, fiances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:27:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29065068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenkmyers/pseuds/laurenkmyers
Summary: Ben and Callum celebrate their engagement in the best way they know how. Together.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 12
Kudos: 81





	forever with you

**Author's Note:**

> looooong coda from yesterday's episode. hope you like it.

Ben stares lovingly over at Callum, the very definition of heart eyes, as he watches his fiancé being wrapped up in a massive bear hug by his brother. He literally can’t take his eyes off him, no matter how hard he tries. He’s happy, elated, so fucking ready to marry the man of his dreams he could literally burst with joy.

Someone sits down next to him and yet Ben still refuses to tear his eyes away from his _future husband_.

“You look happy, son.” Kathy says quietly, wistfully.

Ben lingers a second longer, before he turns his gaze towards his beaming mother.

“I am, mum. Never been this happy in my life.”

Kathy leans forward and cuddles close, wrapping her arms around him, which Ben sinks into. When she sits back she has a tear in her eye. “I’m so proud of you, Ben. You’ve found a lovely man in Callum.” She says looking over at her future son in law. “It’s so good to see you this happy.” She returns her attention back to him and strokes a soft hand down his face. The moment doesn’t last long however, as she suddenly uses the same hand to smack him lightly on the shoulder.

“Ow! What was that for?” Ben rubs at his shoulder dramatically.

“You could have waited for your old mum to get here…” she sighs, “I can’t believe I missed my son’s engagement!”

Ben scoffs loudly and starts spluttering. “Weren’t my fault the plan went a bit haywire…” He says, laughing through a smile as he reminisces about how the day actually played out. “We had everyfin’ all planned out, right, and then that fiancé of mine…” He gets a soft look in his eye at the term _fiancé_. “Decides to spring a surprise proposal on _me_ in the middle of the bloody Square and…well… I panicked, din’ I? Yelled no in his face and bolted back to the Albert.”

“You did what?!” Kathy bellows, and the rest of the party turn to look at them. Callum zeroes in on him with confusion clear on his face and Ben shrugs lightly in his direction. Kathy blanches at her son and eyes between them before beckoning Callum over.

When Callum gets to their table Kathy immediately pulls him in for a hug and whispers something in his ear that Ben can’t quite catch but it sounds something like ‘dunno how you put up with him’.

But it doesn’t matter because it makes Callum chuckle and Ben loses all train of thought again just staring at the two of them, not really caring at all what his mum might be saying, just happy to see the man of his dreams slotting effortlessly into his family. It makes him think of his extended family for a pause before he decides it’s probably time to make the call. He leaves the two of them to their chat, kisses Callum on the head quickly and heads outside for some fresh air.

The moment he steps outside the wind catches him and he pulls his coat further around him, sits down on the step and gets out his phone. He pulls up the number he wants and puts it to on speaker as it rings through.

“Hello?” The voice croaks groggily down the other end of the line. _Shit, its late_ Ben thinks as he checks his watch.

“Pam? I didn’t wake you did I?” He asks a little guiltily.

“Ben?” The old lady asks.

“Yeah Pam, it’s me. I’m sorry for calling so late.” He apologises quickly, feeling bad for having woken her up. But the stubborn woman tuts down the phone, scolding him sweetly.

“You know you can always ring me, you silly boy. Everything okay sweetheart?”

Ben takes a deep breathe. “Yeah, its- everfin’s great, actually. Just, um- wanted to tell you the good news.” He steels himself again, slightly nervous all of a sudden, “I proposed.” He blurts, without much thought and works past the nerves and babbles on, “Well, we both ended up proposing to each other really, bit of a mess to be honest, but well, long story short- Cal and I are engaged.” He finishes feeling his face go all hot.

The line goes quiet for a second, and all Ben can hear is the scraping of the phone on the other end. He worries he’s said too much, especially when he hears sniffling down the line, and he’s about to say something when he hears the loud, booming voice of Pam Coker shouting: “LES, BEN’S FINALLY GONE AND DONE IT! DIDN’T I TELL YOU I HAD A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THAT CALLUM.” He hears shuffling on the other end and starts chuckling as the phone is obviously shared between the two of them.

“Oh Ben,” she exclaims, “I’m absolutely thrilled for you.” She goes quiet again and he can hear Les patting her reassuringly as her voice starts to tremble. “Are you happy, my boy?” She asks.

Ben lets out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding and tears well up in his own eyes at the sound of Pam’s joy. “Yeah, I’m- I’m really happy. He makes me happy.”

“Good, good.” She sniffles and passes the phone to Les quickly where he hears him grunt politely down the phone, “Happy for you, boy.”

“Thanks Les.” Ben says, shyly- used to Les’ stiffness by now, but feeling slightly giddy at the clear sign of approval.

“I’ll pass you back to Pam now.”

The shuffling continues and it makes Ben smile into the night. When Pam returns to the phone she’s gushing and clearly very happy herself, tells him exactly that.

“Oh Ben, I’m so glad you’ve found Callum. I knew I liked him the moment I met him. He’s a good man. And hearing how happy you are just makes me love him. So, when’s the wedding then? I’ll make sure my schedule’s nice and empty.”

Ben chokes on the breath he takes in a little too abruptly, as the reality of her words hits him square in the chest. _Shit_ , there’s going to be a _wedding_. All the planning for today was nerve wracking enough and now he’s got to start planning a bloody wedding.

He splutters, “Now, hang on a minute. We’ve only just got engaged-” Pam cuts him off mid-sentence, her laughter down the phone a little contagious as it calms his rapidly beating heart.

“There’s no rush, sweetheart. You know what I’m like.” She eventually says as her laughter dies down. “But I’ll definitely get an invite when it is time, though, right?” She adds for good measure.

“Course you will, Pam.”

“Good.” She sighs. “Right, I better let you get back to your fiancé then, hadn’t I? Probably wondering where you got to.”

And just as she mentions Callum, the man himself pops his head out of the door and tilts it towards him asking: ‘you okay?’ Ben stands up and walks the couple of paces over to him saying, “Well, the man in question has just come out to find me actually…” He whispers to Callum, holding the phone out. “It’s Pam.”

“Hi Pam!” He says, waving adorably at the phone as if she can see him.

“Oh Callum, darling. Congratulations! Ben’s just told me the good news. I hope he made it a good proposal.”

“Well…” Callum giggles and then flinches as Ben smacks him lightly on the arm. “It was a very Ben Mitchell proposal, that’s for sure.”

“I’m sure he’ll tell me all about it at some other time, but for now I’m going to leave you two to your evening. Tonight’s a special one, and I want you two to enjoy every minute of it. You’ve got your whole lives to look forward to, so hold on tight and don’t let go.”

Ben and Callum fall into each other’s eyes and link their hands as Pam speaks freely of love and devotion. It warms their hearts and makes them both slightly emotional, as if the night needed anymore of those.

“Thank you, Pam.” Callum says and Ben agrees.

“Thanks Pam, love you.”

“Love you, sweetheart. See you soon.”

As she hangs up Callum pulls Ben into a hug and holds on tight.

“She really is such a lovely woman, Ben.” Callum says.

Ben clears his throat and nuzzles further into his _fiancés_ chest. “Yeah, she definitely is.”

They stay like that, huddled together for warmth for a little bit longer, just enjoying each other’s presence when Callum pulls back.

“So, I just got another ‘welcome to the family’ speech from you dad.” Ben watches Callum half smile at the memory.

“He finally showed up then?” Ben scoffs.

“Yeah, Lexi scolded him for being late, so you’re in the clear.”

“That’s my girl.” Ben says proudly, and then is suddenly reminded of something his baby girl said when they were on the balcony, something that had tightened his chest and made his heart thump loudly in his ears as the tears tried desperately to escape. “Hey, listen. You know what Lex said earlier, during the whole shebang about-”

“About not wanting anyone else to be her other dad?”

“You caught that, huh?”

“Course I did. Nearly made me cry, like I wasn’t close to going already.” Callum stutters, close to going again now.

Ben goes deathly still in Callum’s arms, trying desperately to figure out what it is he wants to say next, why he’s suddenly so nervous about asking when he’s pretty sure he already knows the answer anyway.

“Is- is that something, that, you uh, might want?” Ben asks without really asking, scratching his head nervously before carrying on his train of thought, and because his mouth doesn’t seem to be connecting to his brain right now, the words just sort of fall out, “because I know we’ve only just gotten engaged, and uh… I figured we’d talk about kids ‘n other stuff like that way _way_ in the future and whatever, but she’s, uh, well, she’s kind of a package deal and-”

“Ben, look at me.”

He abruptly stops talking and does as he’s told, looks up into the gorgeous blue eyes of the man he’s about the spend the rest of his life with. It instantly settles him as he melts into their depth.

“I already love that girl as if she was my own. _Of course_ it’s something I want.”

And Callum sounds so sincere and sure of himself that it forces a rush of _something_ through Ben’s chest. He feels it hum its way through the rest of his body, and he uses the adrenaline to haul Callum into a fiery kiss, one that’s not, strictly speaking appropriate for public viewing. They’re so wrapped up in one another that neither of them notices the way the force of their kiss pushes them backwards until Callum’s back slams up against the wall of The Albert with a gentle, but deliberate knee between his spread legs.

When they eventually pull back their breathing is hot and heavy as they lean into the friction of their bodies. Callum groans audibly into his mouth as he grinds up against Ben’s thigh. It makes Ben’s already hardening cock twitch. He pulls off entirely though, needing to say something before he gets ahead of himself.

“I really fucking love you, Cal.” Ben says tugging at his bottom lip to stop himself from diving straight back in, knowing he needs Callum to hear him say it.

Callum however, has different plans. He leans further down into the wall so that he sinks to Ben’s eye level, and tugs at Ben’s lapels until he’s back in his arms, no space between them. He holds the back of Ben’s head as he whispers, “I love you too, Ben. Now _take me home_.” He utters the last part with a low grumble in his chest, and if that doesn’t make Ben’s insides fucking _quiver_.

When they arrive at the house, they’re both happy to find it blessedly empty for at least a few more hours before anyone realises they’ve gone. They stumble inside, Callum carefully places his massive bouquet of roses on the table and then Ben is pulling him back in, they knock into the kitchen table, the counter, the door, and even the staircase on their pursuit to the bedroom, when suddenly an idea hits Ben. He pulls back and his eyes darken as he sees Callum blindly follow his lips seeking him out.

“Right, close your eyes, and stay right where you are. Something I’ve gotta do first.”

“Ben, what-” But he places a finger on Callum’s lips to silence him.

“Ssh, no peaking, yeah? Just gimme a minute.”

Ben rushes back to the kitchen, nearly elbows the counter in his haste, and carefully plucks two roses from the bunch. He slides his way past Callum, smacking him lightly on the arse as he glides past and reminds him again to keep his eyes closed.

When he opens the door to their bedroom he studies the area, and decides to very quickly tidy up the clutter, chucking clothes and shoes haphazardly under the bed and in the closet. He then takes the two roses and picks off their petals and scatters them all over the bedspread like he’s seen done in all the rom-coms he’s ever watched.

Callum Highway wants his engagement night to be filled with romance? Well, Ben’s going to pull out all the stops and _romance_ _the fuck_ out of his fiancé tonight.

Once he’s done he gives the room the once over, and when he’s satisfied it passes the romance check he heads back down to get his man.

“Right, all done babe. Come on up.” He extends his hand to Callum and leads him up the stairs. He covers his eyes when he reaches the top, to elongate the suspense a little longer.

Callum huffs out a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, but opens his eyes when Ben gives the go ahead. And when he does his face lights up like a kid on Christmas day.

Ben watches every emotion pass over his face, clear as day, notices the second his eyes start to glisten with unshed tears.

“Too much?” Ben asks nervously, the jitters getting to him the longer Callum stays silent.

Callum blinks away from the scene in front and turns to slowly close the door behind them, and before Ben knows what’s hit him he’s melting into the previously opened door with an armful of fiancé. Their kiss rocks him further into it and he groans low and heady, pulling back eventually, when the need for air becomes urgent.

“It’s perfect, babe.” Callum says, kissing him softly again as one tear slips down his cheek. Ben brushes it away quickly as Callum chuckles, turning back to look at the mess of rose petals scattered across their bedspread. “Thank you.”

“Anything for my fiancé.” Ben says cheekily, watching the way the word turns Callum into mush before his eyes. “Now come on you- get on that bed.” He spins Callum around and forces him towards it, pushing him gently onto the mattress as the petals flutter around him from the impact. “I might not be the most eloquent when it comes to words, but baby, I’m about to _show you_ just how happy you make me.”

Their clothes are shed in lightning speed, nothing eloquent about the way they tear and _tear_ at each other’s clothing until they’re both blissfully naked amongst a sea of red, some of the petals stick to their already sweaty limbs, but it only adds to the fun as it tickles their skin.

Callum ends up lying flat on his back as Ben makes his slow and torturous descent down his body, nipping and sucking at the tender flesh of his belly when he finally settles himself between Callum’s thighs. He picks up one of the petals not currently stuck to them and drags it slowly over Callum’s nipple, watching carefully as Callum’s eyes flutter shut. He continues to trail it further down until Ben’s using a few of them to make patterns on Callum’s skin, the vibrancy of the red stands out beautifully against Callum's pale skin.

It’s moments like this where Ben wishes he’d been allowed to pursue a career in the arts, instead of having it all ripped from his grasp, a young queer kid with his tap shoes strapped to his feet as he dances the night away. Maybe if he’d been allowed to express himself back then he’d be more open about his feelings now. He silently mourns for the vulnerability of the kid he once was, thinking about all the ways he’d show Callum how much he loves him if he’d been allowed the freedom of expression.

The way he wishes he could write about it, in a book dedicated solely to the way Callum’s skin peeks through the scarlet of the petals, or the way he’d create a piece of music that encompasses all that they are, that belongs only to them, as he twirls Callum to its unique melody under the stars.

But realistically, in this very moment, he wishes he could paint. To capture the way Callum looks _right now_ ; pupils blown, dark and glazed with his mouth partially open as he makes a real effort to control his breathing, and mainly, he’d focus on the way Callum is spread out beneath him, bare and open and trusting, and _so_ beautiful amongst the flowers. Ben would have the painting framed; hung high above their heads, so that he could get lost in its beauty for hours.

He blinks out of the weirdly sentimental image and comes back to reality to see Callum has opened his eyes fully now, a slight worry in his brow.

“You okay?” Callum mumbles quietly.

“Yeah babe…m’good. Got lost in your beauty for a second there.” He chuckles, trying to cover his honesty with sarcasm. But he _knows_ that Callum knows, sees right through the façade and into the very core of him, and this time, Ben lets him, falls open heartedly into the dark and let’s himself be rescued by the beautiful man he now gets to call his forever.

Ben runs his hands back up Callum’s body, pushing the petals away to make room for his greedy fingers, no longer willing to share him, and ends up with his lips back where they belong, being tugged gently into submission by an eager tongue.

Eventually Ben opens Callum up; three meticulous fingers that make Callum croon and whine into him, his back arching instinctually as Ben finds that sweet spot, urging him on and begging for more. Ben takes the cue and leans over to use the remaining lube to slick himself up, lines the blunt head of his aching cock up to Callum’s willing entrance and slides home, inch by devastating inch until his hips are perfectly nuzzled between his mans. He grabs one of Callum’s legs and places it gently on his shoulder, keeps it steady with a carefully placed hand and pushes forward, getting even closer than before, delighted to discover it elicits the mewling noises he loves from deep in the back of Callum’s throat.

Ben keeps the pace slow and steady, pulling out almost all of the way, only to push back in in long, languorous strokes, knowing that it drives Callum to the brink each time he does. There’s no need to speed up, neither of them in any rush for the their night to end, so they stay fused together, moaning into each other’s mouths as Ben pumps himself in and out, leaning even further forward to deepen the thrusts.

Ultimately, the slow pace of their lovemaking builds and builds and builds until Ben feels Callum shudder beneath him, signalling his oncoming orgasm. He bends down till his mouth is by Callum’s ear and whispers hotly, “You can let go now, babe. I’ve got you.”

And that’s all Callum needs to fall spectacularly over the edge, as he comes completely untouched, trembling from head to toe. And has he clamps down tight it triggers Ben’s own orgasm as he closes his eyes and groans into Callum’s neck, releasing inside him, painting his walls in pearls of white.

On the come down as they try and catch their breaths, Ben feels Callum’s big hands wrap themselves around him, stroking his back up and down until they reach the back of his head and pull him into a lazy kiss that neither of them fully commits to in their wilted state.

“I love you.” Callum breathes against his lips.

“Love you too.” Ben replies with a final peck to his lips as he slowly pulls out and rolls off.

Callum takes advantage of the new position and tucks himself closer to Ben with his head on his chest. He traces a finger over Ben’s collarbone and sighs contentedly.

“Thank you for a perfect night. Can’t wait to spend the rest of them with you too.”

Ben dips his chin to look down at Callum. “Yeah, yeah- there’s no getting rid of me now, you soppy git. This is forever.”

“I could do forever with you.” Callum whispers sincerely against Ben’s heart, which skips a beat at the thought of _forever_ with this gorgeous man.

“Forever it is, then.”

**Author's Note:**

> come and scream with me on tumblr: laurenkmyers


End file.
